


Starlit Hero

by nocturnalSpectrum



Category: Original Work
Genre: Despair, Destiny, Gen, Short Story, hero - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:37:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7210136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nocturnalSpectrum/pseuds/nocturnalSpectrum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a place far from here there lived a useless hero.<br/>Born with an unshakable destiny and given a power from the stars itself, the hero is told to save the world.<br/>The hero can not save them from despair when despair has already taken hold of the hero's own heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starlit Hero

Once Upon a time, there lived a useless hero.  
She was a hero only because it was something she was born with. A destiny crowned upon her tiny head when she was just a baby and a power placed inside her heart when she was just old enough to speak. 

She was born to save her world from the creeping despair that stole all hope from her people but she was useless. The despair everyone spoke about, the creatures who corrupted all they touched had already gotten to her. 

'Impossible', said her guardians,'you are protected by your destiny. The despair can not affect you.'

Her pleas that they could were always swept to the side as she tried to convince her guardians her heart had been hollowed. They never stopped too long anywhere. 

Each city they visited was smaller than the last and she couldn't help but feel utterly empty. She heard about her own prophecy and how her power was bestowed upon her by a star from high in the sky. How it saw the future and gave her power to her guardian, Stavan to keep safe for her before she had even been born. How he journeyed from city to city just like they were, for years until he heard of her birth. How he found her and her mother far too late. 

The power that rested in her heart was cold and quiet in its cries. She couldn't reach it. Her power.. was supposed to drive away the despair from everyone but she couldn't even drive it away from herself. "Useless," her voice whispered.

They were always pursued by others. Sometimes they got close enough to hear.  
They always yelled at her guardians, calling them evil and worthless. They always ordered them to give her back but if they did she'd never see her guardians again. Her heart felt hollow but they continued to run never giving up. Her guardians should have been given this power instead. 

They were both so strong of heart. 

Then one day just like that they're caught.  
Her guardians were captured by the others and still they told her to run, to save herself. To save everyone. She can't do it. 

She wanted to stay with them forever. She wasn't strong enough to go it alone but they distracted the others one last time with their antics and cries and with no longer a choice. She ran. 

She overheard some people talking. How the leaders caught the thieves who stole the hero from the government all those years ago. They despaired at how the hero wasn't saved when the thieves were caught. With hunched shoulders and forlorn faces they walked past her unknowing. 

Her guardians were thieves but they had treated her so well. Her mind was sent into a spin.  
They had gave her the starlight and told her of her destiny. They raised her to be strong and to be selfless and courageous even if she was none of those things. 

With shaking hands she held a small golden book reverently and stroked the cover. One of her guardians, Carmine, gave it to her and told her how if she was ever lost the book would help. It never helped but she never stopped it from trying. 

It was filled with painted pictures of beautiful far off places, and how her heart yearned to be there instead. Carmine had told her that the book once belonged to her little sister but she didn't need it anymore. The binding was loose and the pages barely held on. She needed to save her guardians but she was too afraid. She turned the page carefully, the cover turned a little in her lap. Her eyes watered blurringly. She needed.. She needed to keep moving. Her breathing was unsteady and she trembled where she sat. 

The sun was setting. The emptiness felt stronger than ever. It ate away at her chest, corroding her, making her feel brittle and terribly alone. She curled in on herself and trembled more. It was dark now and cold, colder than she ever remembered feeling. Her heart felt so cold. 

A small voice quivered. It was quiet, less than a sound. It was a slight vibration in the air that was nearly lost in her own trembling. Her back felt less cold and with a small whimper she looked up. 

The stars were out.  
The moon was hiding behind the curtain of the sky making them look so bright. 

They shone strongly and without falter from their home hundreds of thousands of feet above her. They were beautiful. Her heart lurched forwards awkwardly and another sad sound escaped her. The small voice quivered again.  
It felt so far away but it was warm. Desperate. Hopeful.  
She shook. It was cheering her on. They weren't quite words but more feelings strung together in a way that almost felt like a conversation. She still felt cold... but the voice never stopped trying. 

A small bud of warmth bloomed in her heart and stayed.  
She woke the next day and felt... brave. Her fear still clutched her tightly but that's the thing about bravery. It was bravery because of the fear. She held the book just as tightly and felt at that small bead of warmth in her heart. 

She would save her guardians and her people from the despair.  
She set her jaw and rubbed her eyes with determination. She would do it. She had to. 

She could feel the despair everywhere now that she knew the difference. She knew what she had to do now. She had been doing it all along. A frail laugh fell from her. If only she had known earlier, she could have done more. 

She needed to embrace the despair from every single person and take it from them. Only then could they be saved. Only then could the despair be given up to the moon to turn it into something less miserable. To turn it into hope. 

The smallness of the warmth grew at her bravery. It was time to get going.  
Once upon a time, there lived a hero.

**Author's Note:**

> It was a quick story I typed out when the four am loneliness set upon me.  
> Short and sweet I hope. It's from the opposite POV from this one dream I had. 
> 
> I was a person who was told about a hero who would be born in the years to come and I was told to keep the hero's mantle of power safe from pursuers until the hero could collect it. It looked like a bit of starlight and could be hidden in a heart. The hero's mom kept her safe for a few years before giving her to a thief who had come across her by mistake. I chased that thief for years until I caught her and was able to give the hero her power. 
> 
> We both kept that hero safe until she was old enough to do something.  
> The government or something wanted her to use her for their evil purposes. We just wanted to keep her safe so we sacrificed ourselves to give her a head start running. I hope she was able to save the world, because I woke up. 
> 
> Yup! Hope you enjoyed, and I hope it was kinda inspiring? I don't know. The hero was supposed to come up from the despair stronger and be an analogy that someone can pull through their own despair to a brighter future or something. 
> 
> Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought yeah?  
> First shared story in years!


End file.
